摘要：Tomato is highly perishable and cannot be stored for longer duration. Due to perishability, farmers are losing a bulk of produce every year as during storage its quality, especially in terms of water loss and physical disorders deteriorates. An experiment was conducted to study the effect of harvesting methods and chlorine treatment on post harvest physiology of tomato. Tomato fruits with stalk and without stalk were harvested at breaker stage and subjected for shelf life studies. The fruits with best harvesting method (fruits with stalk) were treated with chlorine by first dipping the fruits in distilled water and then chlorine solution (200ppm sodium hypochlorite) for 15 minutes. The fruits were then air dried and packed in gunny bags and perforated LDPE bags. The packed fruits were stored under ambient and refrigerated conditions. Results showed that tomatoes treated with chlorine and packed in perforated LDPE bags resulted in substantial reduction in losses caused by decay and weight loss under refrigerated conditions. This treatment combination also delayed compositional changes in TSS, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid. The shelf life of tomato under this condition extended upto 22 days as compared to non- treated ones. Hence, it could be concluded that post harvest treatment with chlorine has the potential to control decaying incidence, prolong shelf life and preserve valuable attributes of post harvest tomato fruits.
